The Occlumens
by Lunaterre224
Summary: After Dumbledore convinces Snape that he needs to become a mentor to an unusual Slytherin girl, Harry finds himself sharing his occlumency lessons and actually finding them bearable. While Harry gets better at defending his mind, Voldemort is forced to use alternative plans and between him and Umbridge, Harry is in for a hell of a year.
1. Part One: Snape

**Hello readers! Yes, I know that it's been a while. I'm putting the old chapters together to make them longer. Despite the wait, I do know where the story is going and I have the ending planned in about 5 chapters whether there will be a sequel is currently undecided. Remember, all credit goes to J.K. Rowling. Happy reading!**

* * *

In all of his years of teaching, Severus had finally decided on what he hated about it the most: the children (or brats as he liked to call them). It was only through experience that he had decided that the first years were the worst - alongside the Potter Spawn.

The best way he had discovered to keep them in line was always to make them fearful enough to keep them motivated and concentrating on their potions. After his usual start-of-year quiz in which he chose the most difficult questions on the first year curriculum, he organised them into pairs for their boil-removing potion. He had selected this potion for his first lesson with the greatest of care; it was simple enough to make, yet the effects of making a wrong step gave a brilliant demonstration to the rest of the class about what _not_ to do and instilled a healthy sense of caution while working with volatile ingredients.

If only Potter and Longbottom had managed to learn that lesson in their first class, then he doubted he would have half as many accidents.

He swept his way through the potions lab, peering into their cauldrons as he went. Many were barely adequate, while one of the Gryffindors had even managed to get their potion to Longbottom-standard. Vanishing the vile mixture before it started to explode or melt the cauldron, Severus continued his rounds of the dungeon.

As he reached the front of the class, he noticed one of his Slytherins' potions starting to smoke, producing a nasty smell. Sighing, he was forced to vanish that potion as well, but he asked the girl to speak with him after the lesson, instead of giving detention and house points like he had done to the Gryffindor.

After class had finished, the first year Slytherin remained behind and Severus realised that he didn't even know her name. His brow furrowed. Surely he had seen her around the common room? He could vaguely recall her being in the background after the Sorting Ceremony, but that was all. Quickly, not wanting to be too obvious, Severus glanced down at his register.

Ah, Elowen Robins.

Finally with a name to the face, Severus proceeded to interrogate the girl about what she had done to make her potion react the way it did. The girl's answers came promptly and politely, no emotion could be read from her face or tone of voice. It was a rather common Slytherin technique and Severus wondered how she had become so adept at it. Curious, his remarks began to become more cutting in nature, but still no expression could be seen.

"Professor Snape," The first year said, her eyes still blank and emotionless. "Have you finished discussing my performance in class yet? I fear that I might be late for my next class." Severus fought the urge to blink in surprise. Had she really held out that long under verbal abuse? He really had to give her some credit.

"However, if you wish to continue this conversation Professor, I could always stop by your office after supper?" Miss Robins' voice was still carefully neutral and she showed no outward indication of what she was feeling after their... discussion.

Slightly unnerved by the girl, Severus attempted to gain an insight into her thought process. Not many students would pull that sort of move, let alone a first year. In a moment of rash impulsiveness, Severus looked into Elowen's eyes and sent a small probe of legilimency towards her mind. For a second, Severus thought he had entered her mind, when he suddenly found himself facing a brick wall.

"Thank you, Professor. I would love to continue this conversation after classes have finished and discuss my potions as well as your attempt to enter my mind. Although, I am currently running late for Charms, so I must bid you farewell." The first year collected her bag and left the dungeon.

It was only after she had left that Severus realised a first year girl had been using occlumency against him. It was only later, when he was 'teaching' his NEWT level students that he realised that although she had delivered her parting message in the same monotone as before, she had been openly mocking him.

Severus couldn't wait until dinner had finished. He was a master legilimens and he was not going to be beaten by a first year student.

* * *

Severus stormed down the corridor, his black robes billowing behind him. A scowl marked his face, as he opened the door to his office in all his dungeon-bat glory. Sitting there, patiently waiting for him, was Elowen Robins.

"Hello Professor Snape," the girl greeted him, her face still unnaturally devoid of emotion. "Would you mind closing the door?"

It was an obvious show of dominance. The girl was ordering _him_ about in his own office! And the way she phrased it as a request meant that he couldn't even deduct points from her, even if he had been willing to dock marks from Slytherin.

"Miss Robins." Severus acknowledged. He shut the door behind him, activating the privacy wards he had added to his office in case confidential information was spoken between him and his students. Making his way to sit behind his desk, Severus wracked his brain thinking of some way to regain control of the situation.

"Five points to Slytherin for use of advanced mind magic." The first year didn't even react, let alone raise an eyebrow and look intrigued. Damn, Severus had been hoping to knock her off balance enough to make himself an opening. The two sat in silence, as Elowen didn't seem to think that comment dignified a reply.

"I don't usually make a habit of using legilimency on students, you must understand." Still, no reaction from the younger girl. Her lack of expression was starting to get to him. "Likewise, occlumency is also a rare gift that should not be abused. Therefore, I am most curious who taught you this art."

The poker face remained intact. Severus decided that he really needed to stop underestimating this first year. There was quite obviously a reason why she had been sorted into Slytherin. Elowen Robins was very tall for her age and could actually see over his desk, which was quite a feat for anyone under third year. Her brown hair fell to her shoulders and her unremarkable brown eyes did not betray her mood.

"With all due respect Professor, I view what I did today as more of a mindset than an art form."

Severus wondered how long it would take to get the answer to the question he had asked. If she was anywhere near as good at avoiding questions as she was at keeping her emotions in check, he could be here for quite a while.

"That is a true mark of a master occlumens, Miss Robins." Severus wondered idly whether flattery would work. Poor resistance to it was a flaw of most Slytherins that arose from great ambition.

It was only then that he saw emotion on the girl's face. It was the unexpected expression of resignation. "I would be flattered, Professor. If only I knew what a master occlumens was."

Shock radiated throughout Severus' entire being. If the girl didn't know what occlumency was, then it was highly unlikely that she had been trained. To be able to defend against his mental attack... Severus had heard about natural legilimens and occlumens before, but if the girl was already this powerful then she could likely become a danger to herself and others.

"You do not know what occlumency is?"

The girl's face was heavily guarded still, but Severus detected a distinct sense of longing from the rather tall first year. "If I did then I would have probably understood what a 'master occlumens' is, Professor. I am guessing the two terms are related?"

Severus sighed, running a hand through his greasy hair. "An occlumens is a person who practises occlumency. It is an obscure branch of magic involving the mind. Occlumency is essentially the reverse of legilimency, the art of determining another's thoughts." A ghost of an emotion flickered across Elowen, but Severus just managed to catch it.

He knew that legilimency and occlumency were two sides to the same coin, while he had originally learnt legilimency, he had gradually gained a thorough understanding of the other. However, to have accessed both at such a young age... Severus probably wouldn't have believed it possible except for the evidence in front of him. The question was, however, how much control she had over either of those abilities. Severus winced at the idea - he would most definitely need to talk to Albus.

"You obviously have some proficiency in both, but due to the fact that it is unlikely you had an instructor, I would like to ascertain how much control you have over them."

Her plain, brown eyes filled with steel. "I am sorry, Professor, but I am not going to let you rummage inside my head."

Severus fixed her with a glare of her own. "Miss Robins, until this issue has been addressed, you are a liability-"

He never got to finish. Elowen Robins had already stormed out of his office. The Potions Master sighed heavily: the Headmaster would definitely want to hear about this.

* * *

Severus knocked on the Headmaster's door and entered. He passed the phoenix, the sorting hat and a variety of peculiar trinkets scattered around the office. As he strode up to Dumbledore's desk, Severus noticed that he wasn't the only one who had wanted to attract the Headmaster's attention.

Sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk, like a naughty schoolgirl, Delores Umbridge sat in her trademark pink-toad fashion. Her hair was curled and styled, though it clashed horribly with all the pink she wore. Severus decided he hated her purely for the colour assaulting his eyes.

"Ah, Severus, my boy!" Dumbledore smiled, as his eyes twinkled, effectively cutting off whatever the new DADA teacher was about to say. "Do take a seat, I was just finishing up here with Dolores."

The pink toad glared in the Headmaster's direction, but Dumbledore ignored her irritation. "Your first week of lessons were alright, I hope?"

Severus nodded firmly, while Umbridge fumed silently. "But we haven't yet discussed-"

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence her. "Professor Umbridge, I greatly appreciate the time you took to share your opinion of the school with me, but as you can see I currently have other business to attend to. I trust you can find your own way out?"

Umbridge was practically seething as she turned towards the door, while Severus gave her (what he hoped was) a sympathetic look. It never hurt to gain a few more allies.

"Now Severus, my boy, what can I do for you?"

Severus ground his teeth at the fact he still called him 'boy' despite his insistence otherwise. "It has come to my attention that one of my Slytherin first years has become quite adept at both legilimency and occlumency."

Albus raised his eyebrows. "Well, it is relatively common for old families to at least attempt to teach their children occlumency, but rarely anyone even gains the basics these days."

"She was able to repel me from her mind and although I have yet to test her skill in legilimency, she is certainly quite powerful. An exceptional feat, especially as I suspect she taught herself." Severus felt a shot of smugness at his superior's expression to that, Albus was a thousand times easier to read than the first year in question.

"Who this girl, Severus? You have established how much control she has over her abilities, correct?" Albus got up from behind his desk and started pacing, his white beard swinging in time to his footsteps.

His ever-present condescending tone always made Severus want to fire a nasty curse in his direction, but once again, he restrained himself. "Her name is Elowen Robins. I tried to figure out how much control she has, but she refused to let me enter her mind and fled my office. Naturally, I thought it was time to contact you with this information."

Albus continued pacing and Fawkes the Phoenix watched him with a slightly concerned expression that didn't seem appropriate on a bird. "You have to find a way, Severus. Her gift needs to be controlled. She will need guidance to do that."

He suddenly stopped pacing and turned to face the younger man. "If she cannot learn control then she is danger, not just to herself, Severus, but the school. I cannot allow another young Slytherin to fall into the darkness that awaits those who fail to understand limits."

* * *

The motions of trying to gain Elowen's trust were beginning to wear on Severus. After much deliberation, they both decided to keep their lessons as private as possible, under the guise of "remedial potions" with potion-making only happening every other lesson, as there was no doubt that Elowen needed it.

However, Severus had still been unable to gain access to the girl's mind, as she would immediately push him out with her immense occlumency skills the second he tried to assess her skills in legilimency. Likewise, whenever Severus tried to test her occlumency shields, Elowen would form a counter-attack, causing the Potions Master to go on the defence.

Unfortunately, the Christmas holidays had now started and Severus felt that whatever progress he had made with the first year Slytherin would surely evaporate while Elowen was away from Hogwarts. To add to his misery, Umbridge had now been terrorising the castle, after discovering that Potter and the Weasleys had escaped under her very nose. The Dark Lord was delegating a mission to Lucius, leaving Severus with very little say in recovering that damned prophesy from the Department of Mysteries.

Severus had been beginning to wonder if things could get any worse, when Dumbledore ordered him to start teaching Potter occlumency, despite Severus' many protests. Now, even more of his free time was gone, as Severus refused to teach Potter at the same time as Elowen Robins, knowing that it would likely jeopardise what little trust he had already managed to build with the girl.

* * *

"So... how come Harry Potter also has to do 'remedial potions'?" You could practically see the quotation marks in the air.

The Potions Master closed his eyes briefly in despair. Could the son of his arch-nemesis really be that bad at keeping a secret? Severus scowled, knowing that he would have to explain the importance of keeping the occlumency lessons quiet - at this rate he would have twice as many brats wanting to learn the subtle art of mind-magics before the end of the year!

"I didn't think that Potter would be quite so vocal in his failings in Potions, but you may have noticed that it is his OWL year and I refuse to have any of my students get below an 'Acceptable' in my class."

Elowen did not show any sign of being convinced - in fact her face was back to showing no emotion at all. "One of the older Hufflepuffs ended up shouting it out in the Entrance Hall, Professor. I couldn't help wondering if he was going to be joining us tonight."

Her voice was neutral, but Severus could tell that with any other Slytherin, her tone would have a calculative edge. You did not spend much time in Slytherin before learning when someone was fishing for information.

"Mr Potter is currently in his OWL year, so is not at quite the same standard of potions making as yourself, therefore there is little advantage in you taking extra lessons with him. Also, I refuse to have _two_ useless idiots brewing at the same time." Severus felt a small sense of satisfaction with his answer, before realising he had just insulted the girl again. He suppressed the urge to growl. Now he'd have to make it up to her in order to regain her trust.

"If you say so, Professor." Her voice was almost bored.

Severus sensed the legilimency probe just before it hit and reinforced his occlumency shields just in time, focusing his every thought on maintaining them. He was certain he had managed to prevent her from getting inside of his head, but by the time he had recovered enough from the attack to tell her off, he realised that Elowen had already left his office.

Severus had the horrible feeling that the young occlumens was planning something.


	2. Part Two: Potter

**Some of the dialogue in the following chapter is from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (pg 515-517). All credit goes to J K Rowling.**

* * *

After his initial lessons with Snape, Harry Potter was not anxious for another session of his most hated teacher rummaging around inside his memories. However, he had received his copy of his interview in _The Quibbler_ that morning and was feeling most satisfied as the news quickly spread around the school. Now, he wanted nothing more than to return to the Gryffindor common room, where Fred and George had promised to celebrate the occasion.

Instead, he was kneeling on the floor of Snape's office, sweat dripping down his back.

"Get up, Potter! It's clear you haven't been practising; do you honestly want the Dark Lord to break into your mind?" The greasy haired man sneered at him, indifferent to his suffering and Harry felt rage inside of him at the unjustness of the whole situation.

A knock came at the door and Harry used the time before they entered on sitting back on his chair.

"Professor Snape! Professor Umbridge needs your help urgently!" A tiny Slytherin girl appeared in the doorway, her hair disheveled and winded. "Someone has installed massive posters of _The Quibbler_ on her office door and none of the other teachers seem to be able to remove it!"

The Potion Master's sneer turned into a scowl at this information. "Thank you for informing me, Miss Shafiq." He turned to Harry and his scowl deepened. "Remain here, Potter. We will resume your lesson shortly." And with that, he swept out of his office, the tiny first year scurrying after him.

Not wanting to give Snape another reason to punish him, Harry stayed seated and tried not to fidget. Naturally, he did not succeed.

It was only about a minute since Snape had left the room, but already curiosity had its hold on Harry. He moved towards the pensive and the swirling memories inside it. What was it that Snape wanted to hide from him so badly? Gently prodding the silver liquid with his wand, Harry looked onto the surface and-

"Do you really want Professor Snape to hate you more than he already does?"

Harry twisted around in shock at being caught. Standing in the doorway was another Slytherin girl, much taller than the housemate who had taken Snape away from his office.

"Snape's not here." He replied immediately, saying the first thing that popped into his head.

A sly grin blinked crossed the Slytherin's face. "Of course not, I arranged for him to be elsewhere."

Harry narrowed his eyes at her, not wanting to trust her word for it. "Oh, and how did you do that?"

"I suggested to Lee Jordan that the High Inquisitor would probably appreciate her own copy of _The Quibbler_ and word got to the Weasley twins." She stated this simply, walking away from the door of the office as she spoke. "Then, I made sure that Shafiq got into her good books, as Professor Snape probably wouldn't trust me if I was delivering the message. I also knew that the other teachers hate her and would co-operate as little as possible when removing the posters."

The Slytherin girl was now only a couple of paces away from Harry and he felt a sense of unease fill him. Why would someone go to such lengths to get him alone? The only other people Harry knew with such complicated plans were Dumbledore and Voldemort, so he was quickly on guard, his hand reaching for his wand.

"Why did you do that?" Harry demanded, his wand now safely wrapped inside his palm.

She folded her arms and cocked her head to one side, as if puzzling over something. "Curiosity."

"Curiosity?" Harry was unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice.

The girl shrugged, not seeming self-conscious at all. "My name is Elowen Robins. I also take remedial Potions."

Harry frowned in confusion. Was she saying what he thought she was? "Nice to meet you, Elowen. I'm Harry Potter."

A small smirk formed on her lips. Of course she knew who _he_ was!

"Ellie." She told him, holding out her hand. Harry stared at it uncomprehendingly. The Slytherin sighed. "Call me Ellie, not Elowen."

"Then why did you introduce yourself using a name you hate?" Harry wondered if this was another case of girls being weird. After the Valentine's Day issue with Cho, he was considering whether he should just avoid the other sex altogether.

Ellie beamed at him. "That was before I realised you were a decent person, Harry." Her brow crinkled for a second. "We'd better sit down, Professor Snape should be back soon."

Harry sat back down, while Ellie took the seat next to him. "Why are you really here?" He asked suddenly, uncertain around the younger girl.

"Well," Ellie fixed him with a calculating stare. "Everyone knows that there is a secret society of students that are conspiring against the 'Ministry Approved' decisions made at Hogwarts. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're at the centre of it."

And Harry would have replied, only the office door swung open abruptly, revealing a seething Potions Master.

* * *

Harry sat back in the Gryffindor common room feeling confused. As soon as Snape had returned to his office, he had barked at Harry to leave and fixed Ellie with such a horrid glare that Harry was surprised she hadn't dropped dead where she stood. Needless to say, Harry left as soon as he could, not wanting to spend any more time with the temperamental Potions Master than he had to.

The twins had produced several more giant posters from _The Quibbler_ and hung it across one of the walls of the common room. Gryffindors surrounded him, all asking him to relive his interview blow by blow, not giving him a chance to consider the oddity that was Elowen Robins. Excusing himself, Harry made his way to his thankfully empty dormitory.

Strangely enough, Ellie reminded him of Luna a little - both were unpredictable, disliked Umbridge (but then, who didn't?) and seemed to think there was some sort of conspiracy going on. Shaking his head of those thoughts, Harry reminded himself that Elowen was a Slytherin and her parents were probably Death Eaters who wanted her to spy on him.

Rubbing his aching scar, Harry climbed into his bed, feeling slightly sick. Closing his eyes, he promptly fell asleep and anger began to wash over him...

Kneeling before him, a man dressed in black robes trembled on the floor. "Master, I crave your pardon." The man's voice was dry and cracked, his head bowed in submission before Harry.

Only now did Harry speak and to his horror it was high and cold, his words laced with cruelty. "I do not blame you, Rookwood."

Helpless to stop himself, Harry prowled closer to the servant until he towered over him. On the floor, Rookwood barely suppressed a whimper. "You are sure of your facts, Rookwood?"

This time, the cold tones didn't affect him as much, but Harry still felt his own terror rise up in perfect symphony to Rookwood's Master's calculating fury.

"Yes, My Lord, yes... I used to work in the Department after - after all..."

Rookwood's voice trailed away before Harry's impatient glare. He rapidly looked down again, avoiding Harry's gaze. "Avery told me Bode would be able to remove it."

"Bode could never have taken it Master... Bode would have known he could not... undoubtedly, that is why he fought so hard against Malfoy's Imperious Curse..."

During Rookwood's explanation, his anger rose into a mighty crescendo until it escaped in a dangerous whisper. "Stand up, Rookwood."

Stumbling hastily, Rookwood complied as quickly as he could, revealing a scarred and fearful face. "You have done well to tell me this," Harry looked down contemptuously at his follower, who stood stooped, frozen mid-bow. "Very well... I have wasted months on fruitless schemes, it seems... but no matter... we begin again, from now. You have Lord Voldemort's gratitude, Rookwood..."

"My Lord..." Rookwood's parched and croaking voice flooded with relief, "yes, My Lord."

"I shall need your help. I shall need all the information you can give me." Harry's words were measured, dangerous but no longer lethal.

"Of course, My Lord, of course... anything..."

"Very well... you may go. Send Avery to me."

Harry turned away in dismissal, as Rookwood scurried towards the door, bowing as he went. On the wall, an aged and cracked mirror hung, illuminated only by the candles in the dark room. His reflection was far from perfect, yet it grew clearer and larger as Harry moved towards it, until he was staring into a pair of red eyes embedded in a pale skull-like face.

And although Harry knew on some level that he was trapped inside the mind of his sworn enemy, despite the fact that he had struggled against his restraints when he heard that iconic voice, he was unable to bear the reflection staring back at him.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

"What?" yelled Ron's irritated voice.

Flailing madly, Harry wrestled against his bedcovers, succeeding only in tangling himself in further knots, as he fell from his bed. "Would you stop acting like a maniac so I can get you out of here!" Ron swept the hangings to one side and helped Harry to his feet.

"Has someone been attacked again?" Ron hissed urgently, giving a good impression of Nagini. "Is it Dad? Is it that snake?"

"No - everyone's fine -" Harry gasped breathlessly, his scar burning. His mind reeling from the fact that he had been inside _Voldemort's head_! Images swam before his vision, the long white fingers, Rookwood's pockmarked face and as always the door at the end of the corridor. Turning to Ron's worried face, Harry tried to reassure him.

"No one's been attacked, it was just Voldemort speaking with one of the escaped Death Eaters." He tried to pass it off as nothing, but Ron did not looked reassured.

Taking a sip of water, before he spoke, Ron's voice was rather faint. "You just saw You-Know-Who? Harry you've got to tell-"

Both jumped at the sound of Dean and Seamus entering their dorm, making a great deal of noise as they did so. Harry quickly rearranged himself in a way that didn't make him seem like a nut-job, not wanting Seamus to witness anything out of the norm.

"Look, I'm working on it okay? That's what my occlumency lessons are for." He said quietly.

Ron frowned, his worry still evident. "But it's not like Snape is doing much good is he? The greasy git probably wants you to get your mind invaded!"

"I said that I was working on it, alright?" Harry snapped, because he was. Only his hopes rested on an young Slytherin student, rather than a dark haired dungeon bat.

* * *

After telling Hermione about his dream the following morning, Harry was even more resolute to learn occlumency. With both Bode and Sturgis Podmore getting put under the imperious curse to reclaim the weapon from the Department of Mysteries, Harry's dream-obsession with the corridor seemed to make a disturbing amount more sense.

Unfortunately, his newfound resolve was quickly tested, as he was unable to find any trace of Ellie Robins around the school. Every time he used the Marauders' Map to locate her, by the time he got to her position, she was nowhere to be found. Eventually, out of exasperation, Harry decided to just grab his invisibility cloak and wait outside of the Slytherin Common Room until she returned.

Hours later, just before curfew, a tall brown-haired girl walked morosely towards what was commonly referred to as the 'Snake Pit'. Reaching the entrance wall, Elowen was just about to speak the password when a voice came from behind her.

"Ellie!" The girl turned towards the now visible Harry, who had stowed his cloak into his robe pocket.

The Slytherin smiled. "There you are! To be honest, I thought that you had given up trailing me all over the school. Was I really that easy to keep track of?"

"You were avoiding me?" Actually, now that Harry thought about it, that made a lot of sense. "Wait, you knew that I was looking for you and didn't say anything?"

Elowen looked at him critically. "What do you think the rest of my House would do if they caught me speaking to you in public? The upper years have parents who were Death Eaters and the entirety of Wizarding Britain thinks that you are a dangerous attention-seeking individual of dubious mental stability. You also are the very embodiment of Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry, who lost them the House Cup in your first year of Hogwarts despite losing Gryffindor House loads of points."

She took a deep breath, her rant subsiding a little. "In short, my House hates you and they dislike me enough already. Can you really blame me for wanting to keep my distance? If you want to speak with me, at least let us do it somewhere privately!"

Harry was a little taken aback by how passionately she had just spoken, but the rather tall first year didn't seem angry with him. Ellie just appeared exasperated by the entire situation.

"Um, well, my occlumency lessons with Snape couldn't be going worse at the moment and you said that you also took lessons, so I was wondering if..." He trailed off, suddenly it all seemed absurd. Here he was, the Boy-Who-Lived, standing outside of the Slytherin Common Room trying to convince a first year to teach him occlumency.

Thankfully, Ellie seemed to understand. "Come on, let's talk about this somewhere else. I assume you have some way of avoiding notice after curfew?"

Harry put on his invisibility cloak, causing Ellie to blink in surprise. A calculating grin spread across her face and the Slytherin laughed. "Well, this changes things. _Serpentine._ "

Before Harry could ask how things had changed, a section of wall shifted aside to reveal the Slytherin Common Room and Ellie strode right in. With little choice left, Harry followed invisibly. The Snake Pit hadn't changed much since he had last visited three years ago, it was still underground, still had a eery green glow and was still teeming with Slytherin students. Ellie took a winding path towards the back of the common room, where study desks were cordoned off from the rest of the room by emerald green curtains.

Taking a seat, Ellie pulled the curtains closed behind them. "Don't worry, there are privacy wards on each of these booths. No one can possibly know you're here."

"I can't believe you just made me do that." Harry pulled off his cloak cautiously, he'd had a bad experience the last time he'd entered Slytherin territory.

Ellie smirked. "Sorry, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to annoy all of the pureblood traditionalists." She noticed his expression and her smirk quickly became a glare. "What? You didn't expect everyone in Slytherin to be a haughty blood-supremacist did you?"

Harry looked away. "Are you going to teach me occlumency or not?"

"Of course," the Slytherin's voice now held a slightly hard edge after Harry refused to answer her question. "All you have to do is clear your mind."

"That's what Snape said." Harry turned to glare at her.

A mistake.

As soon as his eyes met hers, memories began racing through his mind.

* * *

"Get up, Potter."

Elowen Robins sighed dramatically. "Did Professor Snape really say all of that?"

Harry refused to say anything, avoiding eye contact as he tried to recover from his humiliation. He hadn't intended on showing her his occlumency lessons with Snape, but he couldn't exactly let her see the DA meetings or the Department of Mysteries, because that would lead to too many questions. At least he seemed to be improving.

Instead of being able to block either of his teachers, Harry had progressed to being able to divert them away from certain memories. It also helped that Ellie wasn't purposely digging for his worst moments and never seemed to take any joy in what she found inside his head.

"Of course he did." Ellie muttered under her breath, answering her own question. "Look, I don't know how he came to be the way he is, but he has it in for practically everybody and the best way to deal with bullies like that is to deny them the satisfaction of making you miserable."

"I'm used to it," Harry said, shaking his head. He'd had to deal with bullies his entire life; he didn't need to take advice from an eleven year old girl.

The Slytherin sighed again, this time in resignation. "Whatever. Just remember to practise everyday, especially before you go to sleep and when you wake up in the morning."

Harry pulled his invisibility cloak on, but paused as he went to leave. "Ellie," he stated. "You know you hate Umbridge..."

"Who doesn't?"

"Well, you know when we first met you mentioned something about standing up to her?" Harry mentally winced. This had been so much easier to say to the other Gryffindors.

Ellie raised an eyebrow at his invisible form. "I believe I mentioned a 'secret society of students that are conspiring against the Ministry Approved decisions made at Hogwarts'. So yes, I remember." A small smile touched her lips.

"Yeah, that." Harry became increasingly glad that he was wearing his cloak. "If you're still interested, then you should meet us on the seventh floor, next to the dancing trolls."

He knew what the others would think about him bringing a Slytherin to DA, but there was representatives from every house except the snakes and besides, Harry found that he trusted the odd first year. Most of the other members he hadn't invited along, so he was perfectly within his rights to invite anyone he wanted, wasn't he?

"I'm still interested in rebelling against the toad," Ellie grinned. "Count me in."


	3. Part Three: Weasley

**This is going to be the most explicit out of all the chapters and even then it is incredibly mild, but nonetheless I shall add the following. Trigger Warning: A very vague allusion to rape at the end of the chapter. Nothing worse than this other than canonical violence in later chapters.**

* * *

The general anticipation of the latest meeting of Dumbledore's Army could be felt all day. In the corridors and the great hall, a sense of excitement could be felt in the air. In addition, Seamus was being more than civil nowadays and they were considering letting him join.

All in all, life was good for Ron Weasley.

He was currently in the Room of Requirement with his two best friends planning the next lesson. So far, the room had provided targets and crash mats, while Hermione consulted the list of spells on the regular defence curriculum. Harry and Ron were flicking through the spellbooks for anything useful for a future meeting.

"If we focus on stunners today, when do you think we'll progress to cutting spells?"

Ron shrugged. "I dunno, but I think everyone's got the hang of disarming and shielding now, so it'll probably take a couple of weeks before they have stunners mastered."

"Oh good," said Hermione happily. "Then I should be able to schedule a lesson on conjuring a patronus in just over a month's time!"

"I think it takes more than a single lesson to produce a patronus, Hermione." Ron muttered. _For anyone other than yourself anyway._

"Yeah, it does take a while to get the hang of it." Harry said, but he didn't appear to have fully heard the question. Actually, now that Ron came to think of it, he had been quite distant all day.

Hermione frowned in worry. Ron hadn't been the only one that noticed. "Are you sure that you're alright, Harry? Your scar isn't hurting again, is it?"

"Er, no?" Harry blinked in surprise. "What gave you that idea?"

"No offence, mate, but you've not exactly been acting yourself today." Ron stated. The fact that even he'd picked up on it was a bad sign. Harry hadn't exactly been having a great year what with Dumbledore ignoring him, Umbridge, Snape and his visions, but he wasn't normally this quiet around his friends. He was obviously trying to stop them worrying about anything.

Hermione straightened her stack of parchment in front of her. "If you aren't feeling up to it, we could always reschedule the DA meeting to another time, Harry. It would be inconvenient, but I'm sure the others would understand."

"What? No - don't cancel the meeting Hermione!" Harry sighed. "Look - promise you won't be angry with me?"

Well that sounded ominous.

"No promises, mate." Ron shook his head. Just what was his best friend about to tell him?

Hermione narrowed her eyes at both of them and dug her elbow into Ron's ribs. "Whatever it is, we'll be sure to listen." She assured their friend over Ron's yelp of pain.

"Well, I've invited someone new to the next meeting and I do trust her…" Harry trailed off, as if unsure how to continue.

Ron heard Hermione grind her teeth beside him. _Were they going to have to drag this information out of him?_

"My occlumency lessons with Snape haven't been going very well lately, so she's been offering to help, as we both hate him trying to rummage around in our heads-"

Ron exchanged a glance with his bushy-haired friend. Harry had never mentioned anyone other than Snape in his trips to the dungeons.

"-And she hates Umbridge as much as anyone else, so she wants to join the DA. She's not likely to side with Voldemort either - I don't think she cares about blood purity very much - but I don't know how the rest of the DA is going to react to her being here-"

"Harry," Hermione instructed. "Stop rambling. If you trust this girl then we do too. Although, you really should have kept learning from Snape."

"Yeah, but Snape's an evil git." Ron cut her off sensing a lecture coming on. "Pretty much anyone else would be better to teach him to defend his mind from You-Know-Who. Who is it anyway?"

Harry's shoulders slumped, like a great weight had been lifted from them. "Ellie's a first year, but she self-taught herself in both occlumency and legilimency. Snape was trying to give her lessons too, but she's already mastered anything he could possibly show her."

"A first year?" Hermione exclaimed. "But I thought…"

Ron shrugged. "Anyone's better than Snape and between you and me mate, I think this first year sounds way better than Snape."

"That's great!" Harry smiled. "I told her to turn up early, that way both of you can back me up when the rest of the DA arrives. She's probably waiting outside right now."

The three of them made their way to the door of the Room of Requirement, both Ron and Hermione shooting uncertain looks at each other. Hermione clutched the parchment listing the names of all the members of Dumbledore's Army to her chest, as if it would protect her from whatever was about to happen next.

Harry pushed open the door to the seventh floor corridor to reveal a girl who was far too tall to be a first year. What's more, she was wearing silver and green robes.

"Hey Ellie, meet my friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."

* * *

As it turned out, Harry had not been kidding about the Slytherin.

Both Ron and Hermione fussed over that fact, but their friend remained resolute.

"You did promise," Harry reminded them when they tried to complain. Ron went rather red in the face and sent a pleading look to Hermione, asking her to somehow fix this.

Hermione didn't argue. Once she had gotten over her shock, she seemed determined to make sure that Ellie became a fully-fledged member of Dumbledore's Army before any of the others arrived.

"And now, if you would just sign your name on the parchment here..." Hermione shoved the list of names in the first year's face, fishing a quill and inkwell out of her bag. "I'll have your membership galleon sent to you sometime in the next week."

Ron just sat in the corner in disbelief, wondering if the entire world had gone mad. There was absolutely no way that girl was to be trusted. First, she was a horrible, slimy little Slytherin who had somehow tricked her way into gaining Harry's trust. Second, he had never seen her around the school before and 'Ellie' was far too tall to be a first year, as Harry claimed. It was probably a Death Eater in disguise. Or a polyjuiced Umbridge (and wasn't that a horrific image). Really, the newest member of the DA could be literally anyone.

The infiltrator in question was currently wearing a shy half-smile and seemed to be using Harry as a sort of human shield. Hermione's smile was rather fixed and Ron knew that the hand in her pocket was clutched tightly around her wand. In the middle of all this, Harry grinned obliviously, happy that at least one of his best friends appeared to be accepting of the Slytherin.

Grumbling about spies, snakes and stupidity, Ron was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost didn't realise that the other members of the DA had finally begun to arrive.

"What's the snake doing here?" Cho Chang demanded when the Ravenclaws entered.

Harry ran a hand through his already messy hair. "She's um, this is Ellie. She's a new member of the DA."

"That's ridiculous. I wouldn't have come here if I'd known that _Slytherins_ would also be invited." Zacharias Smith sneered, his nose scrunched up as if he had smelled something particularly bad.

Ron glared, fists clenching. "Well not all of them are followers of You-Know-Who are they? Everyone here has been vouched for and isn't just going to run off to Umbridge, so what's your problem Smith?"

The two of them were currently inches apart, faces flushed with anger.

"I'd never thought I'd see you side with the snakes, Weasley." The Hufflepuff retorted.

It didn't matter that Ron hated Slytherins. He hated the little sneak who had somehow befriended his best mate. Yet none of that mattered when confronted with Zacharias Smith's entitled smirk. Ron hated that little prick. Both were now reaching for their wands.

" _That's enough!_ "

A rather tall, brown-haired Slytherin stood between the two boys. Everyone inside the Room of Requirement turned to face her. "That's enough. I don't want anyone to fight because of me. I..."

She turned towards Harry, her face apologetic. "I knew your friends probably wouldn't accept me, but I didn't think it would be quite this bad. I'll leave now - I didn't mean to trouble you."

However, Elowen's escape route was blocked by a wall of bushy hair. Hermione held up the DA sign-up sheet.

"No one has to leave. We all joined in order to learn how to defend ourselves, we each signed our names and promised to keep a secret." She took a deep breath. "If anyone isn't happy with that, they are free to go, but they aren't going to tell anyone."

Zacharias Smith looked like he was going to leave for a second, as did a couple of the Ravenclaws, but when no one else moved they stayed put.

Harry clapped his hands together. "Well, now that that's sorted, I was thinking that we should focus on stunning this week..."

* * *

After the lesson, Ron and Hermione were taking down the targets, while Harry and Neville packed away the crash mats on the other side of the room. The lesson had been a huge success after the initial confrontation about their newest member; most people had just pretended to ignore the oversized first year, not wanting to acknowledge her.

"Would you like some help?" A small voice asked behind them.

Ron and Hermione glared at its source, turning away from the targets for a minute.

Since glaring had little-to-no effect, Ron made his voice as cold as his gaze. "Go away, Ellie."

"Sorry. I just, I just wanted to thank you both." She paused, uncertain. "You didn't have to stick up for me like that."

Hermione frowned. "We didn't do it for you."

There was a silence, filled with all the assorted things that the Gryffindors weren't saying. _That girl really couldn't take a hint, could she?_

"I-I know. I still wanted to thank you though." The Slytherin seemed to deflate in her robes. "I guess I'll see you around."

The two of them stared after her. Each lost in their own thoughts. "I don't trust her."

Ron snorted in agreement. "Me neither. I've got no idea what Harry sees in her."

"Good thing I hexed the parchment in case anyone betrayed us." Hermione murmured, causing Ron to blink in surprise at her admission. The whole hexed-parchment-thing made Hermione's eagerness for the Slytherin to sign up make a lot more sense. Ron was just a little scared of his friend sometimes.

Hermione's face continued to darken, as Neville and Harry finished up tidying their half of the room. "Although I doubt that's the last we'll see of dearest 'Ellie'."

* * *

Since Trelawney's sacking, Umbridge had been gearing up for something big. Ron and half the school were anxiously holding their collective breaths, waiting for what she would do next.

"It's probably going to be evil." Hermione remarked from beneath her usual mountain of books. "She's a vile, selfish, control-freak of a woman, of course she's going to retaliate with something big."

Ron shrugged and mumbled an agreement, knowing that his bushy haired friend was building up to a full-blown rant. Harry was currently having his usual detention (read: torture) session with Umbridge, leaving him alone with Hermione _only eight weeks before exams_.

"I mean, some of the degrees she has already enforced are entirely deplorable," Hermione continued. "She's actually _trying_ to ruin our education and I haven't studied enough as it is!"

Picking up his quill, Ron nodded sympathetically and decided to attempt his Transfiguration homework. Long experience had taught him that there was nothing he could do except wait for his passionate friend to finish. In the meantime, he would try and tune out her increasingly shrill voice.

"-and speaking of evil! Ron, look who just walked past!"

Ron raised his head at Hermione's suddenly hushed voice. There were few things that could distract her mid-Umbridge-rant.

Between the bookshelves of the library, a rather tall girl in green robes was lurking. Her fingers skimmed the spines of each tome, as though carefully reading each one, but her proximity to them could hardly be a coincidence.

"Oy, Snake!" Ron called out. "Trying to sneak up on us were you?"

The first year turned, no surprise shown on her face. Ron scowled; she'd obviously been trying to listen in.

"Of course not," she denied, her tone expressionless.

Hermione frowned at the younger girl. "Unlikely. I don't know what you want with Harry, but eavesdropping on our conversations isn't going to please him."

Facial expression unchanging, the girl looked blankly at them. No indignation, no pleading denial or shame at being caught. "I was not trying to eavesdrop. I was merely searching for a book."

"In the family history and law section?" Hermione raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Yes," Elowen stated. "I'm doing some research."

Ron snorted. Who actually did extracurricular research other than Hermione and Ravenclaws?

Scowling, Hermione turned away from her mountain of books, folding her arms. "Oh really. Then just what are you studying?"

Behind his Transfiguration homework, Ron gave a small smirk. Whatever the Slytherin was going to say, he knew that Hermione was going to rip her to shreds. No one could stand up to her temper when she was in full lecture-mode.

"Muggleborns." Replied Elowen simply, ignoring the confused looks of the two fifth years. "My father doesn't believe in them, you see."

"B-b-but that's ridiculous!" Ron spluttered. _Stupid Slytherins and their stupid Death Eater parents. It's not like they're wrackspurts or anything._

Hermione meanwhile had gone a shade of fuchsia and did not yet seem capable of speech.

When Elowen did not elaborate further and turned towards the bookshelves again, Ron felt the urgent need to interrupt her. "How can someone be so conceited as to believe muggleborns don't exist? It's kinda obvious that they do!"

Beside him, Hermione's face had regained some of its usual colour, but she didn't appear ready to speak just yet.

"Well," Elowen began with a sigh. "His logic is that magic has to come from somewhere and it is rather worrying that the wizarding world has such a thing as a memory charm, but not a contraceptive charm, isn't it?"

"That can't be right," Hermione told her. "There's theories that muggleborns are descended from magic, but nothing I've ever read has suggested... that can't be right."

She pushed the first year aside and rapidly began to pull books from the shelves, the manic focus of a person possessed. Ron swept his Transfiguration homework to the side to make room for Hermione's new books. By the time he had looked back, the first year had gone.


End file.
